The transformation of Pennsylvania American Water's Stafford Avenue facility into a regional operations center is well underway with a scheduled completion in May.

The utility's $20 million renovation and expansion includes a new two-story office building, renovations to its existing facility and a new material storage shed on the north side of Stafford Avenue in Scranton.

The company will merge its Wilkes-Barre facility and relocate 60 to 70 employees to the 120-employee Scranton facility next year.

"The most complicated aspect of this has been renovating a facility that is currently in use," said project manager Joel Mitchell, noting that some employees have been working out of temporary trailers and that some parking has been moved to the Econolodge across the street. "The contractors have said, 'Give us an unused building and watch how quickly we'll get done,' but we can't do that."

The site had been the former Royal Crown soft drink distribution facility. PAWC leased the property after the acquisition of the water business from Pennsylvania Gas & Water in 1996. The company grappled with a permanent plan with the intention of the facility being temporary, Mr. Mitchell said.

As the company periodically reviewed its plans, the Stafford Avenue site grew more attractive with its access to Interstate 81, as a central location and being on virtually flood-proof land - all critical for responding to service requests or emergencies. Over the past two years the company purchased the existing building and bought land around it.

The 30,000-square-foot building under construction has been designed with energy efficiency in mind. Offices will be equipped with "daylight harvesting" LED lights that dim based upon how much ambient light enters through the windows. A series of 30 geothermal wells will help efficiently heat and cool the building.

The site will have stormwater retention and passive treatment through an infiltration bed.

On the north side of Stafford Avenue the company is completing a storage barn. The 5-acre site has property set aside for a possible compressed natural gas filling station. But that is still undecided, Mr. Mitchell said. With the cost of the filling station about $1 million and the premium for a CNG-ready heavy truck is about $35,000, the economics remain questionable. CNG runs about $1 less per a gallon equivalent of gasoline. The water company has applied for grants to underwrite the project.

The field resources coordination center will move from Wilkes-Barre next year along with other engineering and administrative positions. The center will dispatch crews not only from the Scranton site, but sites from New England to Virginia on behalf of American Water's other units. The new facility will have room for a regional training center.

"Our goal is to make this a showcase facility," Mr. Mitchell said.

Contact the writer: dfalchek@timesshamrock.com

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